80 customers caught using drugs in Da Nang bar

Synthetic drugs have become more popular among young partygoers in Vietnam. Photo by Shutterstock/Leszek Czerwonka

Eighty people tested positive for drugs in a bar the police raided in the central city of Da Nang early on Friday.

Around 100 officers from the Hai Chau District police raided Club F3 on Chi Lang Street right after midnight and arrested three people for possessing drugs, the district police chief said.

Seven envelopes suspected to contain drugs and 90 alcohol bottles of unknown origin were also seized.

Da Nang has been cracking down on drug-related crimes since April in bars, karaoke parlors and bus stations, among other places.

Vietnam had more than 222,000 drug addicts as of the end of 2017, with an increasing number of them using synthetic drugs like methamphetamine, ecstasy and ketamine, according to the police.

While heroin has been the traditional hard-core drug, synthetic drugs, like methamphetamine, have become more popular among young partygoers.

In Da Nang, synthetic drug users account for 86 percent of addicts.

Despite having some of the world’s toughest drug laws, drug trafficking and use remain rampant in Vietnam. The country has become a key trafficking hub for narcotics in and around the "Golden Triangle," a lawless wedge of land straddling China, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar that dominates the Asian illegal drug markets.